COLLEGE
BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
NCAA Championship Regional Game 7
Tufts 3, Eastern Connecticut 0
At Willimantic, CT
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Game
Box Score
|
Junior pitcher Derek Miller allowed no runs
over seven innings of work
|
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Playing in the first meeting of 1-0 teams
during the NCAA Division III Baseball regional here today, Tufts
University got a combined eight-hit shutout performance from junior
starter Derek Miller (Whitman, MA) and ace
reliever sophomore Chris DeGoti (Miami, FL) as the
top-seeded Jumbos knocked off fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut
State University, 3-0, to improve to 2-0 in the tournament.
Tufts will face the winner of the Western New England College
vs. University of Massachusetts Boston game in the winner's bracket
Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern now plays Wheaton College in an
elimination game Friday at 10 am.
When Tufts and Eastern met April 27 in Medford, Eastern jumped
out to an 8-0 lead before Tufts came to bat in the bottom of the
second en route to a 19-5 conquest. Today, Tufts got off to an
appreciably improved start as the Jumbos drew first blood in the
bottom of the third, plating three runs off Eastern starter senior
Matt Fontaine (Cranston, RI). Using three timely hits and a walk,
Tufts took advantage of a senior first baseman Nate Bankoff's (Lynnfield, MA) single to center field to drive
in junior second baseman Frank Petroskey (Dallas,
TX), who had a one-out infield single and stole second.
Sophomore third baseman Sam Sager (Cranston, RI)
sent a fly ball deep enough into left field to allow junior
shortstop David LaResche (St. Louis, MO) to tag up
and score from third base. LeResche had walked, moved to second on
the Bankoff hit and found third base after a wild pitch. Bankoff
then scored the third run on a single up the middle by junior right
fielder Chase Rose (Scottsdale, AZ).
In the top of the fourth, the Warriors got a leadoff double from
junior first baseman Andrew Dewing (Swampscott, MA) and a wild
pitch advanced him to third with no outs. Miller came up with a gem
of a fielding play, snagging a hard, low liner off the bat of
senior third baseman Melvin Castillo (Danbury, CT) for the first
out, then induced a pop up before getting the last out on a
strikeout to strand Dewing at third.
Fontaine picked up a key strikeout in the fifth with Tufts
runners at second and third, getting Rose on a swinging strike
three to end the threat and keep it a three-run deficit. While
Tufts held the edge on the scoreboard, both starting pitchers were
in relative control through five frames as Miller allowed only
three hits while fanning six and Fontaine was touched for just four
hits with four strikeouts.
Eastern's greatest scoring opportunity came in the sixth when
the Warriors loaded the bases with two outs, but again a swinging
strikeout came to the rescue for Miller as he got junior Robert
Perry (Manchester, CT) with a curveball to keep Eastern off the
board.
DeGoti entered the game in the top of the eighth after Miller
issued an opening walk. DeGoti retired the first three batters he
faced on a strikeout, a fielder's choice grounder and an
inning-ending groundout to third base.
DeGoti had a bit more difficulty in the top of the 9th as
Eastern got its leadoff batter, Perry, aboard on a walk. He was
removed in favor of pinch-runner junior Joe Cousineau (Newington,
CT). When pinch-hitter junior Tyler Turgeon (Norwich, CT) laced a
single into right field, Cousineau went a bit too far past second
base and was tagged out 10 feet off the bag after LeResche received
the throw from Rose, making it one out with a runner at first. The
Warriors still got the tying run to the plate when junior center
fielder Shane Kingsley (Bacon Falls, CT) was hit by a pitch. But
DeGoti went on to record his 12th save of the season as senior
second baseman John Parke hit a grounder to Sager at third base for
a force out and DeGoti took care of the final out, fielding a soft
grounder to the mound off the bat of senior shortstop Travis Bass
(West Hartford, CT) and flipping the ball to first to end the
contest.
Playing in its 128th game in its 31st NCAA regional appearance,
Eastern suffered just its second-ever shutout in regional
tournament play. While Tufts was led by its pitching duo, the
Jumbos did get two hits from Bankoff, who scored a run and drove in
another. The Warriors, who out-hit the Jumbos, 8-6, got two
safeties from Dewing to lead them at the plate. Miller upped his
record for the year to 5-0 while Fontaine fell to 6-3.
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